Collections
share this page- Backstage
- filter by:
Louis Vuitton
While Marc Jacobs' eponymous collection in New York promoted a return to basics, for Louis Vuitton, presented today around the fantastic fountain of the Louvre, he made a convincing case for the return of adult, curvaceous women. First out was Laetitia Casta, bosoms aquiver in a corseted A-line dress with elbow-length leather gloves. She anchored the Mad Men-like parade of 50's cutaway coats, exaggerated wide skirts and a few puffy (and less flattering) evening gowns, set to the kind of ominous music you hear in Hitchcock movies. The Eisenhower-era, ladylike look is a well-worn theme (not just for Jacobs, but any number of designers this season), which he articulated beautifully on models of the non-hanger persuasion. The comeback of sultry runway goddesses like Noémie Lenoir, Elle Macpherson, Karolina Kurkova and Adriana Lima probably also served as eye candy for the countless people who watched on Facebook. If they had attended the show, they would have seen the program notes devoted entirely to the Speedy bag, 54 versions of which were featured on the catwalk.
Chloé
“The past belongs to museums, the present belongs to the street.” That's the slogan of a Citroën ad campaign currently invading France's public spaces. But retro wasn't a problem at Chloé. In the program notes of her terrific show, Hannah MacGibbon cited menswear as her main inspiration. But it was difficult not to see 1970's Lauren Hutton, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren—and even Michael Kors—in the camel coats (some hooded), Freja's outstanding jumpsuit, snug turtlenecks, knotted blouses worn with high-waisted pants and mannish trouser suits. And the designer's eschewing of eveningwear suggested a modern attitude. As the international show season reaches the home stretch, a new minimalism is emerging as the big story for fall, seen not just here, but at Marc Jacobs, Céline, Prada and Givenchy. By tackling the relaxed yet feminine American sportswear of the seventies—Chloé's heyday—MacGibbon made the trend all her own.
Chanel
It’s freezing in Paris, but it felt even colder this morning at the Grand Palais, sitting beneath giant icebergs—literally, icebergs—that Karl Lagerfeld had shipped in. Is this where they've been disappearing? Seriously, though, in a season of dramatic, unapologetic furs draped and heaped everywhere you looked, Lagerfeld had a very real message: go faux. (Okay, the show wasn't completely faux, but it's a step in the right direction.) He opened with Chewbacca-like coats, pants, skirts and boots that continued throughout. Which isn't to say there weren't the usual classics, just chilled: leather bombers, black-and-white tweeds, angora insets, quilted details and blue flashes of a glacial variety. It was all pulled together in a rugged way, styled like something out of Norwegian folklore. Make that Sweden, where those icebergs came from. Snowball bags and stalactite heels were the icing on the Chanel cake.
Givenchy
In a drafty school gym, after a day of frigid temperatures, a late start to the last collection of the day could result in no-shows. But not Givenchy, where the turnout included key photogs, Beth Ditto, models/actresses Rie Rasmussen and Liya Kebede—all who looked like they had snuck back to their hotel for a costume change and a fur. Now, back to the show. Riccardo Tisci sent out a bevy of new-faced and red-glitter-lipped girls who, like deer in headlights, seemed to lose their way when their follow-spot moved on. Highlights included fitted ski jumpers and black ski trousers with front zippers slightly open and waists turned down. The trousers were cropped and flared at the ankle—après ski-style, but with high patent heels instead of ski boots. There were flashes of red and white lace, sometimes as bodysuits in a sea of short and graphic black dresses. A few male models seemed as decorative in the women's collection as the ruffled mini boleros. All in all, the jet-set party crowd seemed to have gotten what they came for.
Yves Saint Laurent
While I didn’t love everything in tonight’s YSL show, I do know one thing: LCD Soundsystem live is a transporting experience. Forget the goody bag; they were the best gift I got this Fashion Week. I didn’t go backstage after the show to ask Stefano Pilati about the music, but I’ve heard he’s been working with James Murphy for two years on tonight’s performance. Conversely, the show itself was fairly eerie, full of capes and capelets—think nun's habit—over jackets and short skirts, while one floor-length dress could have been a monk's robe. Then there was the transparent plastic that looked like a furniture cover. This morning I previewed the YSL retrospective across the street and loved the black and white bourgeois schoolgirl dress Saint Laurent designed for Catherine Deneuve for her role in 1966's Belle de Jour. Even today, so many years since, it stands out as the perfect mix of naughty and nice. Pilati’s collection had elements of that, but instead of Deneuve’s pearls, there were gold chains with medallions—more Run DMC than French bourgeoisie.
Backstage Fashion & Frolic
Paris Fashion Week, fall '10
Photos by Sonny Vandevelde
Music by Air (are your headphones on?)
Click image for a pop-up slideshow...
John Galliano
Without fail, watching a John Galliano show feels more like a fantasy adventure than fashion news. Fall was no different. Inspired by "nomads on a mountainous terrain," said the show notes, Galliano's exploration of Eastern Europe and the Middle East produced enormous embroidered coats, furry adornments and more signature bias-cut dresses, plus the usual piling on of clothes and jewels. Models in massive floppy hats and woolly dreadlocks were doused with glitter as they walked down the runway in brutally beautifully outfits, while a few blousons even hinted at a more streetwise direction. Indeed, with his men's line, the designer has proved he can dress a modern urbanite without surrendering his romantic reveries. Is this the future for the Galliano girl?
Celine
The Perfect Man, meet The Perfect Woman. The Perfect woman needs a perfect wardrobe: the perfect high-collared coat, the perfect collarless tunic, the perfect A-line midi-skirt—wool is okay, but preferably in hard leather. To go with, she needs the perfect white blouse and the perfect long boot with a low metal-cube heel. She carries a perfectly flat clutch and when she wears a dress it's the perfect combination of leather and wool, in black and navy. The Perfect Woman needs a perfect wardrobe, one that really functions for the modern woman, day to night. Phoebe Philo has designer the perfect wardrobe for The Perfect Woman. The perfect wardrobe exists at Celine.
Comme des Garçons
"Inside Decoration" was the theme Rei Kawakubo offered for fall, but then, such explanations are always open to interpretation when it comes to Comme des Garçons. What we see and experience is more the point. In contrast to fashion's obsession with the body-conscious, Kawakubo, ever the rebel, sent out clothes and forms blown up to enormous volumes. In her usual palette of black, white, gray and tartan red, she presented dresses with what looked like built-in bullet-proof vests. The coats and jackets, worn with balloon shorts, offered even more exaggeration of protection in the form of lumps and bumps, reminiscent of her revolutionary show of 1997. The bumps resembled internal organs and body parts, but shown on the exterior. Can a skirt resemble intestines? Yes, if it's a Comme skirt—a much more polite version of what's really on our insides. Then came a series of white dresses that looked more like an overflowing bubble bath, or cumulus clouds floating through a sky of puzzled faces.
Ann Demeulemeester
“Il n’y a pas de saison, en fait,” Carine Roitfeld was overheard saying at the end of Ann Demeulemeester. Translation: "there is no season, in fact." Without question, Demeulemeester’s ubiqui-black is a year-round phenomenon. Nevertheless, this time Demeulemeester surprised us with a zing of deep burnt-sienna, on belted leather jackets and wedge boots. Of course, this didn't overshadow Demeulemeester’s black magic, which came in the form of slim trousers, side-button blazers and long leather gloves. Also in the mix: large feathers, lots of them, spilling out from jacket sleeves and collars, as if ravens were hiding in the garments. At times it looked like the model was morphing into a scene out of The Birds. Dramatic, the feathering worked great with black, braided cords cascading from neck to waist like an S&M ropes course. Some of the pieces were a déjà vu from the men’s collection—cowl-neck fur coat, belted beige coat—so be to sure to coordinate in advance with your male cohorts before going out.
Also on Hint …
-
Annual Statement
It’s already time to look forward to another dose of…
-
Dries Van Noten
After years of loose, slouchy and layered, Dries Van Noten…
-
Viktor & Rolf
Along with incredible skill and superb choreography, we've come to…